‘Tarzan – The Jesse Marsh Years’ – Robert P. Thompson, Gaylord Dubois & Jesse Marsh (Dark Horse Comics)

I wouldn’t say that I’m very widely read in the genre (working on it though!) but I’m widely read enough for it to be a surprise when I come across something really iconic that I’ve never picked up. Yep, I’m looking at Tarzan... The lord of the jungle has been in comics, books and films but the only time I’ve ever come across him was in a children’s cartoon right at the start of the eighties. The arrival of the first part of a series of books, outlining Jesse Marsh’s work in Dell Comic’s ‘Tarzan’ seemed like the best place to start! :o)
As it turns out, I can see myself getting into this. Any recommendations anyone (films, books etc)?

Seeing as these are the ‘Jesse Marsh’ years I figured the best place to start would be with the former Disney artist and his work here. Background scenery is the order of the day here with some really lush jungles and bleak deserts made all the more effective with atmospheric shadowing... I wasn’t so keen on his drawing of humans and animals though. Marsh can very obviously draw exciting moments of actions but the quieter moments (travelling through the jungle or held captive for example) come across as very ‘posed’ and not so natural. This really broke up the flow of certain stories for me and made it difficult to read...


(Click on the picture for a slightly bigger version that you can read...)

Gaylord Dubois and Robert P. Thompson’s stories have a gloriously ‘pulp’ feel to them, hearkening back to times when Africa really was a ‘dark continent’ just waiting to be explored. I was left wondering just how many ‘lost civilisations’ one continent can hold but this approach did give off an air of uncertainty that encouraged further reading, anything could be around the next corner...

There might not be a lot of depth to Tarzan’s character but these tales are more about what he does (rather than whom he is) and he does one hell of a lot! Tarzan is the guardian of the jungle and will stand up for justice (and travellers who have no idea what they’re doing) no matter what danger this leads him into... Tarzan’s constantly overcoming incredible odds can get repetitive after a while (one of the dangers of grouping individual stories into larger collections) but this is a book all about sheer spectacle and you can’t deny that this is well and truly delivered! Giant gorillas, crocodiles, savage tribesmen and slavers all come up against Tarzan and are found wanting...

I had a great time reading these Tarzan stories and the words ‘Volume One’ suggest that there will be more to come, I’ll definitely be around to see what dangers Tarzan must face next...

Eight and a Half out of Ten